Hollie Smith to headline Hawke's Bay's Christmas at the Park

Hollie Smith will perform at Hawke's Bay's Christmas at the Park event. Photo / Getty

A_IC151219XMAS8.JPG Now in its 15th year as a major community event, Christmas at the Park is expected to draw a crowd of 12-15,000. Photo / File

Hollie Smith has been confirmed as the lead act for this year's 15th Property Brokers Christmas at the Park.

In one of the first large concerts in the region since Covid-19, New Zealand singer Hollie Smith will play at the concert expected to draw between 12,000 and 15,000 people to Mitre 10 Sports Park.

It is the second year the concert will be held at the Hastings park. The event began alternating between venues in Hastings and Napier in 2016.

"This will be the largest concert to occur in Hawke's Bay since Covid 19 and we are really pleased we made the decision to carry on with the planning during the past eight months when public gatherings have been so uncertain," event organiser David Trim said.

Smith made her first album at age 16 after winning Best Female Vocalist at the National Jazz Festival of NZ.

She also has a string of accolades to her bow from the New Zealand Music awards over the years, including Best Female Artist, Best Producer, and Breakthrough Artist of the year.

More recently, she sung How Great Thou Art with Teeks at the National Remembrance Service in Christchurch last year.

In 2013, Hollie was selected to perform at the Australasian World Music Expo in Melbourne. This led to an invitation to perform at the prestigious Montreal Jazz Festival.

She headlined, with her band, performing two concurrent sets in front of an estimated audience of over 50,000.

Smith will be joined by local bands such as Badger, solo artists, dance groups, a variety of local talent, three music groups performing carols and Santa for the four-and-a-half-hour Christmas concert.

The event is produced and organised by the Kaisen Charitable Trust, relying on sponsors, voluntary contributions and trust funding.

"The dedicated leadership and the massive effort of hundreds of community volunteers to put a free to enter event on of this size is simply incredible," Property Brokers Hawke's Bay regional manager Joe Snee said.

The signature fireworks display involves a specially written narrative of the Christmas story, over laid with music.

The event is held December 12 with gates opening at 3pm, the stage entertainment beginning at 5pm and finishing with fireworks at 9.35pm.